Python is open source. So is perl. As people wiser then myself have mentioned- all languages have weak and strong points.

It seems java has recently changed their source licensing policy, (thanks reverend). So it should become more popular, perhaps better.

I could think of things like gnome and kde as 'competitors'- or of different web browsers. These things supposedly do the same thing, only better then the alternative.

But as for programming languages, I don't think they strive to 'do the same thing only better'. Languages are like ex girlfriends. They are all so incredibly different. They all did bizarre things in their own wonderful ways- and they all had some very sharp and bloody ends. Once you really know one of them, it can be hard to decide which is better. Sometimes you may even switch back and forth.